The Right Time
by Amy11
Summary: Anya gets an idea that throws everyone for a loop.
1. Default Chapter

As Xander watched his fiance munch thoughtfully on an English muffin, he smiled. Anya was still slightly damp from her shower, wrapped comfortably in a huge terry cloth robe and had no make-up on, but she looked beautiful.  
  
She always looked beautiful to him.  
  
He could smell her too, and she smelled like something fruity and clean-- he could never place what fruit it was that she smelled like, but he was endlessly fascinated with all of the soaps and lotions she used after she bathed. He thought that her natural scent was pretty nice, but felt safer not knocking anything she did to be more human.   
  
Finally Anya looked up at him; caught his stare. She tilted her head. "Why are you looking at me like that?"  
  
He shrugged. "You look good. Why not?"  
  
She preened silently under his gaze. "Thanks." After polishing off her English muffin with a huge final bite, she tried to say something, "M fnku su eslp wp--"  
  
"Ahn," he broke in with a grin, "finish chewing."  
  
Shaking her head, she complied and then swallowed. "Right. Sorry. Anyhow, I was thinking that you should sleep with Willow. As soon as possible. Tonight, even, if you're both not busy." She wiped her hands on a napkin and looked at him expectantly.   
  
After a moment, her words processed and Xander stared back at her in horror. "Huh? I should *what* with *who*?"  
  
"Sleep with Willow," Anya enunciated carefully. Bluntly, she added, "I mean, have sex with her."  
  
Xander licked his lips once. Then again. Suddenly his mouth was very dry. "Anya, you know things aren't like that between me and Willow. I don't know what I could've done to make you think that something's going on between us, but--"  
  
"No!" she interrupted with a laugh, "I know nothing's happened between the two of you. But I think it should."  
  
His brow furrowed in confusion. "Are you breaking up with me or something?" ~Please, God~ he prayed silently ~Let it be 'or something.' And let that something be that she's drunk.~ He inspected her closely for signs of alcohol.  
  
"No. And I'm perfectly serious," she assured him. "What are you doing tonight?"  
  
He shook his head. "Well, I'm-- Wait! I'm not having sex with Willow! What are you thinking?"  
  
"Just that it's time."  
  
"Time for what? For me to think that you're insane even *before* I've seen you plan the wedding?"   
  
"Come on, Xander." She rolled her eyes. "I'm going to be very rational about the wedding plans; you know that."  
  
"What I don't know is what could've made you think that I should sleep with Willow," he said. He tried blinking. Nope, it was looking like his eyes were going to stay that wide-open for a while.  
  
"Oh!" she giggled. It was a sweet, deceptively innocent sound, Xander thought. "I forgot to explain that part. Sorry. Well, I think that you and Willow have a very long past, some of which involves wanting each other and not being able to have each other. This way, you *can* have each other and put that 'what if' out of your mind forever. Before our wedding, I want to know that you don't have any lingering feelings for her like that. It makes perfect sense."  
  
Xander closed his mouth with an audible click. He stared. "I don't want to sleep with Willow."  
  
"Sure you do."  
  
He tried again. "She doesn't want to sleep with me."  
  
"Sure she does."   
  
For a second, he was stumped. Then he brightened. "She's gay!"  
  
Anya smiled, almost sympathetically. "No, she's not, or at least not entirely. She couldn't fall so deeply in love with you, or Oz, if she was. I think maybe Willow is one of those people who falls in love with a specific person, instead of a gender. But it's easy to be confused. I'm not sure even she's considered that fact. Anyway, I'm fairly certain I'm right."  
  
"Okay," he said slowly, attempting to change the angle of it, "let's say you're right. And let's say that I'm willing to consider it-- which I'm not. And that Willow is too-- which she wouldn't be. What about Tara? You can't expect her to go along with this and Willow loves her too much to do anything to hurt her."  
  
Anya sagged, crestfallen. "I didn't think about Tara. Well, maybe if we discuss it with her, she'll agree that it's the right course of action. She probably doesn't want you hanging over Willow's head anymore than I want Willow hanging over yours. Although that sounds sort of kinky. Feel free to try that with her if you like, in some way or another. I want it to be pleasant for you."  
  
"Well, then, what about--" Xander bit off the sentence and stood, his chair scraping loudly against the linoleum floor. "I can't believe we're actually discussing this. No. It's not going to happen because I love you and you're the one I want to have all my sex with. Anyway, you're an ex-vengence demon. I would think that you, of all people, would be against this."  
  
She smiled, her eyes sparkling. "Thanks. That was really sweet. Well, the part about loving me and wanting to have sex with me." She paused, a bemused look sweeping over her face. "And you know what? I think my being an ex-demon is precisely the reason I understand this so well. Once we're married, I wouldn't want you to be the slightest bit unfaithful, so you may as well get it out of your system now. Oh, I know right now you probably couldn't imagine cheating-- which I appreciate, by the way-- but I also know that the day will come when you can. So let's just get that out of the way."  
  
"Anya!" he half-yelled in frustration, "This is not happening! I'm not doing it! We're not even going to talk about it anymore!"  
  
"Yes, you are," she retorted in a steely voice. "You're going to do this, Xander, because you love me and you want me to be happy, right? Right?"  
  
"You know," he said softly, "usually it's fine when you want me to do something outrageous. I just smile and go with the flow. But not now, not about this."  
  
"Go with the flow," she urged brightly. "We'll both be much happier in the long run, I promise."  
  
Xander glanced at his watch and sighed. "Okay. I've got to go; I'm late. Hopefully you'll be back on this planet when I come home tonight."  
  
"All right," she relented, and he felt a spark of hope until her next words. "I'll call Willow and set it up."  
  
"No, don't!" he shouted, panicked. Even under the best of circumstances, Willow could get annoyed with Anya. And these definitely weren't the best of circumstances. "Look. If it means so much to you, I'll run it by Willow. After she's done laughing and tells me what she thinks, I'll come home and we can talk again, okay?"  
  
"Okay!" Anya smiled happily at him and then stood, clasping his arm and walking him to the door. She kissed him soundly on the mouth and patted his arm. "Love you. Have a good day."  
  
"Love you too," he murmured absently, and then proceeded to leave, more confused about women than ever.   
* * * * * *  
  
Xander let himself into the Summers' house and closed the door behind him. "Willow?" he called out.  
  
She came down the stairs. "Hey."  
  
He sighed. "Hey. Where is everyone?"  
  
"Dawn's at one of her friends houses. Buffy, Giles and Tara are at the Magic Box. What's up?" She peered at him closely. "You look terrible."  
  
"Yeah, I feel it too," he mumbled tiredly. They went into the living room and sat down. "Thanks for staying."  
  
"Anytime," she said easily. "You sounded so weird when you called. What happened? Is something wrong?"  
  
"Yeah." Xander rubbed his eyes. "I have to have sex with you. As soon as possible."  
  
Willow coughed. "Huh? You have to *what* with *who*?"  
  
"That's what I said."  
  
She took a deep breath. "Let's start over. Hi, I'm Willow."  
  
"Relax, Willow." Xander snorted derisively. "I didn't say I was going to; just that I have to. Anya wants us to. I think it's pre-pre-wedding jitters or something. She wants to make sure that we get our past... in the past and that you and I-- whatever we were at one point, romantically-- are buried."  
  
"Oh." She felt vaguely hurt by the snort but moved past it. "You've explained the several reasons why this is insane, right?"  
  
"I tried." He leaned his head back against the couch. "She brought it up this morning over breakfast and I was so... wigged, I'm not sure I said everything possible to talk her out of this idea. Although, to be honest, she seemed like she'd thought it through. I'm not sure there *is* any talking her out of this idea."  
  
"Well, it's simple." Willow shrugged and patted his knee. "We just don't go along with it."  
  
"I know. This is a nightmare, though."  
  
"Hey," she said, insulted. "It's not *so* unthinkable. There was a time when I'm pretty sure you would've loved to sleep with me!"  
  
"Relax." He smiled wearily. "I just meant that Anya even suggested it. Now I'm going to have to go home and try to explain why you and I are past that point in our relationship. Any suggestions?"  
  
Willow opened her mouth to respond and then shut it, no ideas coming to mind. She looked at Xander, startled.  
  
He stared back at her, a questioning look on his face. "Will?"  
  
"I..."  
  
The phone rang then, and Willow's breath escaped in a 'whoosh.' She jumped up quickly and picked up the receiver. "Hello?"  
  
"Willow?" Tara's voice rang out.  
  
"Hi, Baby." Willow sighed with relief. "What's going on?"  
  
"Um... Have you heard from Xander yet today?"  
  
"He's over here now." She shot a confused look at him and mouthed 'Tara.' He nodded.  
  
"Oh. Well, I'm here at the Magic Box and Anya said something to me that..." Tara trailed off, unsure of how to continue.  
  
"Oh, God." Willow felt sick. She turned to Xander, who perked up at that, interested. "Anya's been talking with Tara."  
  
Xander bolted off the sofa. "Oh, God."  
  
"What did she say to you, Tara?" Willow asked, praying desperately that Anya had just wanted some witchcraft tips.  
  
"Well, she told me that she had this talk with Xander today and I think we should discuss it," Tara replied, sounding strange.  
  
"Discuss what? It's insane!"  
  
"Yeah, I know." Tara laughed but cut the sound short. "But let's talk anyway."  
  
"Um. Okay. Are you coming home?" Willow ventured.  
  
"Right now."  
  
"See you in a bit. Love you!"  
  
"Love you too."  
  
They disconnected and Willow turned back around to face Xander.  
  
But he was gone. 


	2. 

"Dammit, Anya," Xander yelled, storming into the Magic Box, "What the hell were you thinking?"  
  
He stopped abruptly when he realized that not only was Anya staring at him with her mouth gaping open, but so were Giles and Buffy. He shifted uneasily from foot to foot, not knowing how to fill the silence.  
  
After a moment, Buffy smiled awkwardly and looked at Giles. "I have to go home. Dawn should be home soon. I should go check on Dawn. Do you have to go home?"  
  
"Ah, yes," he replied, darting looks between her and Anya and Xander. "I'll go with you. Help you... Check on Dawn."  
  
"That sister of mine needs a lot of checking," Buffy agreed as she and Giles hurried out of the store.  
  
When they were gone, Anya glared at Xander. "*What* was that all about?" she  
demanded.  
  
"You talked to *Tara* about this?" he countered.  
  
She looked hurt. "You told me to."  
  
"I did not!"  
  
"Well, you brought her up," Anya amended, looking only slightly abashed. "Anyway, you said you'd talk to Willow and since you mentioned the Tara thing when she came in this afternoon, I just talked with her. At least *she* didn't yell at me. What's the big deal?"  
  
"The big deal," Xander growled, "Is that you shouldn't be messing with people's lives like this. And I don't like being passed around. How would you feel if I said that you should sleep with someone else a few months before we get married, just to ease my mind?! I'm your fiance, not your toy." He paused. "Well, mostly not."  
  
She walked haltingly over to him and put her hand against his cheek. "There's no one in my past that you should ever have reason to be jealous of. I'm trying to do the right thing. I want this, Xander. I think it's right for you, for us."  
  
He exhaled as he looked into her eyes. She was still beautiful. Probably legally psychotic and should be put away somewhere, but beautiful. He suddenly wished he didn't love her so much. "Well, what about what's right for me and Willow? Don't you know that this could destroy our friendship? Smaller things have destroyed longer friendships, and I don't want that to happen to us. I've known her since I was three. That's a long time. Are you asking me to throw that away?"  
  
"No!" she cried softly, looking hard at him. "If anything, I think it might make you guys closer. Which is okay with me. You *have* been friends a long time, and I wouldn't ever want to put that in jeopardy. I love you too much. I even like Willow a lot. But because you've been friends for so long, there's this history of sexual tension between you. I don't want it to explode into adultery after we're married."  
  
"It wouldn't." His denial came out pleading.  
  
"Maybe not," she agreed, "But you'd always wonder. You wonder right now, what it would be like, to be with her that way. And say one day you and I are fighting, ten years in the future, and she and Tara are fighting. Say you guys comfort each other and one thing leads to another and then you both end up feeling guilty for life and I end up brokenhearted. I don't want you to break my heart. I don't even want that possibility in my life. And if you don't do this, the possibility will always be there for me. I'll never feel entirely safe."  
  
Xander floundered for a second, no reasonable arguments coming to mind. Finally he settled on, "You shouldn't have talked to Tara."  
  
"Well, she was here," Anya defended, biting her lip. "Okay, maybe I shouldn't have. But I did. I'm sorry."  
  
Xander leaned down and kissed her briefly, feeling the flare inside him as he did, as always happened when he was around her. "I wish I knew what to do with you."  
  
"Love me. Marry me," she said quietly and kissed him back, longer this time. Her hands slipped through his hair, holding him tightly to her and when they pulled away, she looked back into his eyes. "But first, just have sex with your best friend."   
  
He groaned. "I knew the whole, 'love me, marry me' thing was too good to be all there was to it."  
* * * * * *  
  
"Calm down, Willow," Tara said practically. "I'm not asking you to do it. You don't have to if you don't want to. All I'm saying is that as weird as it seems and as out-of-it as Anya may be, it makes a certain kind of sense."  
  
"It makes no sense!" Willow looked at Tara in exasperation. "Not Anya asking Xander, not her talking about it to you, not you thinking about it for a second. None of it! It's nonsensical!"  
  
Tara's mouth curved up sweetly as she watched Willow rant. "You're so cute when you get upset, did you know that?"  
  
Willow's shoulders sagged. "Does this mean you agree with me?"  
  
"Sort of."  
  
"Sort of?!"  
  
"Well..." the blond witch shrugged. "I've already told you what I think about this. You have Xander are a part of each other's lives, and that's all right with me. Xander's wonderful. If I'd had to, I couldn't have picked a better friend for you than him; you guys match in that respect. I just think that maybe you're curious. It'd be nice to not ever have to worry about you deciding to sleep with him behind my back just to satisfy that curiosity. If it gets satisfied now, before he gets married, then great."  
  
Willow choked off the scream that was rising in her throat. "Has everyone in this town gone absolutely nuts?!" She looked at her girlfriend. "You're saying you wouldn't be jealous, is that it?" she demanded sarcastically.  
  
"You know, you'd think I would be, but it hasn't given me a moment's pause," Tara said, amused. "No offense. It's just that I trust you and love you and when Anya explained it to me, I could sort of see it in my head... Well, not see the actual... But see the effect, anyway. It could be good for all of us, Sweetie."  
  
"That's it. I think you've lost your mind. I can't believe this is happening. Maybe someone did a spell on you guys. Xander and I seem to be the only ones with a shred of sanity in this whole damn situation," Willow muttered.  
  
"Oh, by the way, I'm leaving for my cousin's wedding tonight," Tara reminded her, "In case you'd forgotten. I'm sorry you can't come."  
  
"Yeah, well I can't miss classes," Willow said grumpily. "When will you be home?"  
  
"Three days." Tara smiled. "So, while I'm gone, if you decide to go through with this, just know that it's okay with me. You have my blessing."  
  
She went upstairs to pack, leaving Willow staring after her. When she heard their door shut, Willow clenched her hands and shut her eyes and finally let out the frustrated scream that had been dwelling in her lungs since all of this began. It felt pretty satisfying, until she turned around.  
  
Her eyes widened. "Hi, Giles. Hi, Buffy."  
  
They stood in the open doorway silently. Giles looked uncomfortable and Buffy looked severely curious. Giles cleared his throat. "I think I'm hungry. Buffy, would you like to come with me to get some dinner?"  
  
"Hell no!" she whispered back, "We missed out on what was going on with Xander and Anya, I'm not missing this too!" In her normal voice, she said, "No thanks. I'll find something here."  
  
Giles huffed for a moment and then left.  
  
Willow rolled her eyes. "You were standing two feet away from me. I could hear you whisper."  
  
"Oh." Buffy nodded, unashamed. "So what's going on? It sounds like you've  
been having an interesting day."  
  
"Interesting doesn't cover it," Willow mumbled, walking over to the couch and  
tossing herself down on it. She threw an arm over her eyes. "Anya wants Xander and I to sleep together before the wedding so we'll 'get it out of our systems,' I don't want to, Xander doesn't want to, and to make matters even worse, now Tara seems to think it's an okay idea," she summed up quickly.  
  
"Wow," Buffy said softly. "This is better than a soap opera. Um, which I never watch, of course."  
  
Willow shot her a tiny grin. "Of course."  
  
"So what are you going to do?" Buffy ventured.  
  
"What am I going to do? What am I going to do?!" Willow threw her hands up  
helplessly. "What can I do? I'm not going to do anything. I'm just going to sit here and wait until this whole thing blows over and we're back doing normal things, like fighting the forces of darkness. God, I'd take a vampire invasion over something like this any day."  
  
"Well, sure you would," Buffy smirked. "But come on, you can't tell me that you're not even the littlest bit--"  
  
"If you say curious," Willow broke in with a flat voice, "I will never talk to you again, I swear."  
  
"Fine. I won't then. But you can't tell me you're not."  
  
"Buffy!"  
  
Buffy grinned. "I'm just saying." 


	3. 

Willow picked up the phone on its third ring. "Hello?"  
  
"Hi, Will."  
  
She pursed her lips. "What's up, Xander?"  
  
"I think we need to talk," he said simply. "Can you come over?"  
  
"I don't know. We might not be able to control our lust if we get in the same room," she retorted sarcastically.   
  
He chuckled, but the sound carried little mirth. "You know we should talk."  
  
She sighed. "I guess."  
  
"Is everyone over there? There's no big evil on the way, right? You can get away for a little while?"  
  
Willow glanced around. "Yeah. Tara's gone for a few days, to a family wedding. Giles is helping Dawn with some homework and Buffy is trying not-so-subtly to eavesdrop on what I'm saying."  
  
Buffy grinned. "Like I wasn't going to find out about all of this sooner or later, even if you hadn't told me."  
  
"You told Buffy?" Xander shouted into Willow's ear. She cringed and pulled the phone away for a second.  
  
"Yes, I did," she said irritably. "Like you wouldn't."  
  
"Fine, fine," he said curtly. "Come over, okay?"  
  
"I'll leave now."  
  
They hung up and Willow turned to Buffy. "Thanks for giving me away."  
  
Buffy smiled sweetly. "So, Xander just thinks of you as a booty call now, huh?"  
  
Willow stifled a giggle and looked at Buffy sternly. "I'll talk to you later."  
  
As she left, Buffy called out after her, "I want all the naughty details!"  
  
Willow threw a look over her shoulder. "Pervert."  
* * * * *  
  
She let herself into his apartment and found him sitting on the couch, aimlessly flipping through the channels on the television. He barely glanced up when she entered and she walked over to plop down next to him. "What are we watching?"  
  
"Gilmore Girls," he muttered. "Anya made me start watching it. Although, personally, I don't know why it had to switch nights to be paired with Smallville. Don't know what the network's trying to do."  
  
"Xander." Willow took the remote from his grasp and flipped the television off. "What's this all about?"  
  
He paused for a moment. "Anya and I were fighting on and off about this... thing... all night. The off minutes were when she was buttering me up to come at me stronger than ever about it. The thing is, Will, I was trying to explain to her all of the reasons why we shouldn't sleep together-- it could mess up our friendship, you have a girlfriend, she and I are engaged, all that stuff-- but when it got right down to it, I couldn't really..."  
  
"Think of anything solid?" she suggested. "I sort of know. I mean, I think she's really lost it this time, Xander, to come up with something like this, but at the same time, when I was talking to Tara and denying that we were so curious about each other and everything--"  
  
"You didn't really believe it," Xander finished.  
  
"Nope."  
  
"Me neither."  
  
They looked at each other for a few moments and then Xander coughed, turning  
his head. "So... Are we actually thinking about doing this?"  
  
"I can't speak for you, but I am," Willow said bluntly. "She raised some good points. There's been this sort of sexual tension between us forever. And I don't think that you'd ever do anything to hurt her or your marriage, and I don't think that I would ever do anything to hurt Tara, but I can sort of see where they're coming from in saying that we might want to... Before the wedding."  
  
"God, this whole thing is really bizarre, isn't it?" Xander laughed suddenly, and Willow nodded, her face breaking out in a big smile.  
  
"It really is."  
  
"Anya says you're not totally gay," Xander said, his brow furrowed. "I mean, sleeping with you has become a distinct possibility with me, but if you're gay then I don't want you going against your sexual orientation just to make my girlfriend more comfortable in her life with me."  
  
"Fair enough," she nodded. Her lips curved up. "Xander, I cared about you long before I knew about sexual orientation. Long before I'd even heard those words. Listen; I've made love to Oz and I loved him a lot. And I loved you a lot and those few weeks were we had our... Indiscretions... They were indescribable. And I love Tara and I sleep with her. I know I mention the gay thing sometimes, but honestly, I don't know what that makes me."  
  
"Interesting?" Xander grinned.  
  
"Okay."  
  
"So... Should we..." He nodded in the direction of his bedroom door.  
  
"Um. All right."  
  
They stood and went into his bedroom quietly. Willow sat on one end of the bed and Xander on the other and they stared at each other.  
  
"You know," Xander said, his voice startling in the sudden hush, "It really shouldn't be so awkward. We've kissed before. We know we're good at that much of it."  
  
"Right. We can start off slow."  
  
She scooted towards him on the bed and slid her hand up his arm, placing it on the back of his neck. He leaned down and tentatively kissed her. It was warm and brief and he pulled away with a loud exhale. "That wasn't bad."  
  
"Nope." Willow smiled weakly. "Kissing each other never has been."  
  
Swallowing, he leaned down to kiss her again, his arms snaking up to wrap loosely around her waist. She sighed a little and leaned into him as he increased the pressure on her mouth.  
  
Xander pulled away and found himself looking into her eyes, green and luminous and trusting. She touched his face gently, cocking her head to one side as she contemplated how long it had been since she'd seen him in this way, even though, deep down...  
  
She always saw him this way.  
  
His lips captured hers again, this time hungrily. She sank her tongue in his mouth, tasting him, feeling the warmth of him as he gripped her to him tightly. Together they fell further back until they were lying on the bed and Xander rolled on top of her. He slipped between her legs and she felt his erection through his jeans. Her fingers slid through his hair, down his back, clawing at him desperately as they moved together in a mockery of sex. His hands slipped over her breasts, kneading them, and Willow moaned as he brushed a thumb over one of her tightening nipples.  
  
The kiss was hot, and wet, and forever. There was nothing but ragged breathing and each other and the sensations shooting through each of them as the world spun away.  
  
Xander groaned deep in his throat and pulled back, bringing Willow to a sitting position with him.  
  
His voice was raspy. "I think..."  
  
"We just found our solid reason?" Willow was startled by her own voice, which was shaky and seemed distant.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"But we can't tell them."   
  
He glanced at her with eyes still filled with desire and something deeper. "You know what we're going to tell them."  
  
"Yeah," she echoed softly.  
  
"Willow, I--"  
  
"You don't have to say it, Xander," she assured him quickly.  
  
"I think I do," he said seriously. "It's just that... I love you, like, all the time. And there's something else there, the sexual part of it, Anya was right about that. But she didn't know about this. When I kissed you just now it was... It was perfect. And all that love I have for you, romantic and otherwise, wouldn't be ruined by sleeping with you. It'd just be brought to the surface. I can't bring it to the surface. If I made love to you tonight, then I wouldn't ever be able to let you go. I would have to break  
Anya's heart and I love her. I'm going to marry her."   
  
"I know it, Xander." Tears shined in her eyes. "When we kissed, whenever we  
kissed, it always seemed so right. It did in high school and it does now and I don't think that after tonight we can ever look too closely at that, because we both have good lives, where we're happy. And even if we could make each other happier by being together, both of us are involved with someone else. I love Tara, you love Anya. That's just the way it's supposed to be."  
  
"I guess there really never was a right time for us," he said, and she could hear the sadness in his tone.  
  
"Maybe, once, a long time ago. But you weren't ready, and to be honest, I'm not sure I was either." She took his hand, squeezed it. "But in other ways, all there are for us are right times. You're my best friend, that's never going to change. You're my always."  
  
Xander nodded and leaned down to kiss her once more, softly, on the mouth. "You're mine."  
  
Willow sat, looking off into space for a moment. Then she turned to him. "Want to go watch the end of Gilmore Girls?"  
  
He shrugged. "Sure, okay."  
* * * * *  
  
Willow hugged Tara tightly. "Hey!" she whispered. "It's so late! What did you do, drive all the way home right after the wedding?"  
  
"Sort of," Tara whispered back. "I missed you. And I'm sorry we fought."  
  
"Me too," Willow said sincerely. "But I did think about it, and you were right about some things. As much as it pains me to admit, even Anya was right about some things."  
  
"So did you and Xander..."  
  
"Do you want to know?" Willow countered quietly. "Does it matter?"  
  
Tara smiled. "No, it doesn't, but I'll take that as a yes. Are you okay?"  
  
Willow looked into her eyes and kissed her. "Now that you're back. I love you."  
  
"I love you too." Tara wrapped her arms around her lover. "Let's go to bed."  
* * * * *  
  
Anya knocked tentatively on the door and Xander opened it to her, bewildered. "You have a key."  
  
"I know, but I thought, since we'd been fighting..."  
  
His eyes softened. "You don't ever have to not use the key just because I'm mad at you. I can assure you that there will be lots of instances where I am. Too often for you to be constantly locked out."  
  
She smiled and stepped inside. "Are you still mad?"  
  
"Not really."  
  
"Good. Because I wanted to make one last effort for you to see how good this would all be," she said imploringly. "I just really think you should consider it."  
  
"I did it."  
  
"And-- You did it?" she asked, surprised. "W-- Tonight?"  
  
"Yes. After you left, Willow came over. We talked and decided you were right," he said simply.  
  
Anya stared at him for a moment longer than made him feel comfortable but just as he was about to take it back, she squealed and threw herself into his arms, kissing him. "I was right! I told you!"  
  
He looked down at her with a tiny smile on his face. "This is sort of a weird thing to say 'I told you so' about."  
  
"I don't care. How was it?"  
  
"Anya."  
  
"What?" she asked indignantly. "I made you do it, I should at least get to know how it turned out."  
  
"My life would have been so much easier if I hadn't fallen in love with you," he chuckled, taking in how happy she looked. "It was... nice. It was Willow and me. It's in the past now. I promise."  
  
She searched his face for a moment and then nodded definitively. "I believe you. I'm glad you did it."  
  
"Uh, thanks," he said wryly.  
  
"No, I mean it," she said honestly. "I'm really glad the two of you went through with it. I knew that nothing but good could come from--"  
  
He cut off the rest of her sentence by kissing her slowly, lingeringly. His words were husky. "I love you, you know that?"  
  
"I know that," she whispered contentedly, holding him close.  
  
"Just making sure."  
  
"Come on," she said, taking his hand and guiding him to the bedroom, "Let's go make up properly."  
  
  
  
The End 


End file.
